Pineapple Tarts

This is not the first batch of tarts that I've made this year. Well, the first ones were made at a friend's place and by the time I realised the oven was what was causing the pineapple jam to harden, the last tray of tarts were already in... too late. I'm really lazy to bake anything this year, what with Christmas just having ended, the little one's birthday, start of school etc, I don't feel the Chinese New Year mood at all. However, I came across this recipe in the Sunday Times yesterday and wanted immediately to try it. I had all the ingredients, but only had enough butter for half the recipe, so I did just that. Made about 25 tarts with some dough leftover for at least 6-7 more, even though according to the recipe, a full recipe would yield 40 tarts. I think it could easily produce 70 at least. These tarts are very soft and fragile. I destroyed one when my glove accidently pressed on it while removing tray from oven. They are lovely, except I found them just a tad dry. The tart sticks to your entire mouth and you can't talk after. Need to wash it down with some water.

The recipe is as follows. I will only post the tart recipe as I used ready pineapple jam.

Ingredients -

250g butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg yolk
440g plain flour
1 tbs milk powder
a pinch of salt (I added this in myself)
pineapple filling
1 egg, beaten


Method -

1. Preheat oven to 165 deg C.

2. Cream butter and vanilla essence on medium speed for about 10 mins (I did everything manually).

3. Add the yolk and continue mixing for about 2 mins till well incorporated.

4. Sift the flour and then the milk powder into the mixture. Mix on low speed for 2mins before increasing it to medium speed for 3mins, until a coarse, crumbly texture forms.

5. Place the mixture in a large bowl and knead it for about 5mins until a smooth ball of dough forms.

6. Leave dough in the bowl, seal it with a clear plastic wrap, and chill in fridge for approximately 20mins.

7. Remove dough from fridge, pinch a small amount and roll it to form a ball, flatten and fill it with jam.

8. Brush with egg wash and bake in oven for 15mins until tarts turn golden.